Creating memories for a lifetime

The Home of Loss Doulas® International Baby Loss Family Advisors​™Rainbow Baby Advisors​™Rainbow Baby Doulas​™

﻿﻿Need Support Now?﻿﻿

Have you just learned that your baby died and will need to be delivered?

Do you have news that your baby has life-threatening problems and you wish to have a companion/advisor to help you go forward, create a birth plan, and be with you at ​birth and/or afterwards?

Do you want to help someone who has learned they are having a miscarriage, stillbirth, or early infant death?

Our Independent Baby Loss Family Advisors™ orLoss Doulas® (also called Bereavement Doulas™)have been trained and certified to help as early as when you hear the news, prepare for the hospital experience, at the birth, when meeting baby, and after you leave the hospital.

﻿﻿Parents get no 'do-overs.'﻿﻿

The sooner you connect with a Loss Advisor™ or Loss Doula®, the better chance you will have to make more fully informed decisions. This is your only time to get it right. Use an Independent Loss Advisor™or Baby Loss Doula® to help you navigate what is yet to come. Our Independent professionals will help you... '"Minimize your regrets and maximize your memories." We will honor your baby and your parenting time. We will also speak with your family to listen to their concerns and guide them to be good support to you at the time and in the future and to deal with their own feelings of loss now. Expect guidance when you leave the hospital, in saying goodbye, preparing for home time, going back to work and more. We are your 'go to' people.

From a mom who received care a few hours prior to her planned induction of what is described by others as a 'miscarried' baby (but was clearly her baby and treated as such.)

"Losing Leo will always be hard, but I (we all) wouldn't be doing nearly as well these few weeks later as we are if we hadn't had such intentional, beautiful, and tender moments with him- many of which we would have missed if not for your input, guidance and support." Jeanine

​"Despite my worries and fears, my Baby Loss Advisor taught me to Embrace the Joy so I could be ‘present’ for the little time we had Jonah on earth with us. Mitch and I couldn’t be more grateful!!!” Suzy

﻿Sherokee Ilseis one of the founders and is the primary trainer for Baby Loss Family Advisors™ andLoss Doulas® .

A bereaved mother, parent advocate, author, and speaker, Ms. Ilse has over 30 years experience working with families experiencing loss and training, mentoring, and networking with their caregivers all over the world. One of the pioneers in the perinatal loss field, Sherokee continues her life mission of advocating for families and shifting paradigms to ensure they receive the best care possible. Check out herCV here. There are other Loss Advisors™/Loss Doulas® in training as official trainers. They will be announced soon. Danita Lang - Canada

Sherokee offers half and full day training classes for staff. Contact her directly to discuss inservices and workshops. She is a frequent conference speaker.sherokeeilse@yahoo.com

*PARENT FEEDBACK about care received by Loss Advisors™/Loss Doulas®and the training certification class**

"I just wanted to take a moment to thank you. Words really are not enough to express our gratitude for what you did for us. Of course, for the material things: the stones and special paper we printed footprints on, the crocheted hat, battery candles, reading materials, stuffed animal, etc etc. But also for the immaterial – the emotional support, your calm presence and the love we felt in spite of just meeting, and above all for reframing and changing the entire experience for us. You helped us get in the right frame of mind to focus on our remaining ability to welcome our baby with love, and to celebrate and honor her in the midst of grief. Your connections made with our parents and children and our own connections that you helped us facilitate with them are priceless! " I also can’t stress enough how vital to our experience the ‘saline bath’ was! It not only prolonged our ability to keep our baby and have her at home for a little service, but actually improved her appearance and helped me to bond and have more positive memories, as well as photos I’m comfortable sharing. She also added in another note, "I really had no idea what I was agreeing to when I told my friend 'yes' to finding a support person (prior to the induction), but it's clear now that lining up with you was nothing short of Divine intervention! Losing our baby will always be hard, but I (we all) wouldn't be doing nearly as well as we are if we hadn't had such intentional, beautiful, and tender moments with her- many of which we would have missed if not for your input, guidance and support. ..thank you for your help, support, guidance, inspiration, care, and love. What you do makes a difference!"Melissa. (mom of baby born still after an induction at 20 weeks when an ultrasound detected his heart had stopped weeks earlier.) *****"Talking with you has totally changed my perception about how to approach this birth-where my baby will die. I was expecting to be grieving and deeply stressed during the time of meeting her after birth. But now I see that we can use this time to make special memories and experience being her parents for as much time as we have. I understand that that grief will be there waiting, but THIS is our time with our baby. Thank you, thank you."A Mom ******" I can't speak enough to how helpful your training was!" Jamie, RN ******From an Indigenous Doula"I enjoyed attending the class on so many levels. And Danita (our first Canadian Trainer) can attest to my repetitive responses of what I gained. I got to ask all the questions I needed (from wording of things to more detailed questions about dead bodies and cremations, etc that I have always wondered but had no one to politely and professionally ask!). I feel 100x more equipped to handle a situation with an anomaly or death and talk with people who have lost a baby or child than ever before in my 10 years of doula work and 8 years of clinic work." Nadia Houle, Edmonton, Alberta Canada

"The class was wonderful. It taught me a whole new way of looking at my relationship with patients who have lost their babies." Sara N. San Diego ​**For more TESTIMONIALS - Parent Services-Testimonials

Endorsement by Author Penny Simpkin“When new parents experience the loss or serious illness of their baby, they need sensitive empathic support, along with excellent clinical care. Too often, well-meaning clinical staff, doulas, and even family members, feel awkward and unsure of what to say and how to provide appropriate care. Sherokee Ilse’s workshops address exactly those topics. She offers nsightful and practical guidance on how to positively empower, teach and touch parents and families whose child dies. She also cares about how the loss may impact the caregiver, making sure that this is covered in her classes. . Sherokee Ilse has dedicated her life to this cause. Her passion, experience and relatable teaching style, makes her one of the most highly regarded leading experts in the baby loss field.” --Penny Simkin, PT, Childbirth Educator, Author, Senior Faculty, Simkin Center for Allied Birth Vocations at Bastyr University, Kenmore, Washington

Join us at one of our upcoming Certification Classes

Rainbow Baby Advisor/Rainbow Doula ONLINE Training (6 hr course, Nursing CE hours available):Online #1 Class - Wed. October 18, 2017 ( 7-10 pm EST) Class #2 will be held in early Nov. Register in StoreDO you want to have an online class that fits your staff/team's times? Contact us and we'll set one up. sherokeeilse@yahoo.com---------------------------​​Baby Loss Family Advisor/Doula in person training (18 Nursing CE hours available for training and 42.75 for certification):​​Jacksonville, FL - May 1-2, 2018 (Days 2 & 3) Sherokee Ilse in-person trainer. Local participants are asked to attend the Day 1 training April 2 & 3 evenings to ensure their pre-class work is done together. Others will need to do the readings, viewing 8.5 hours of videos and responses on their own no later than 10 days prior to the May classes. Tucson - Mid May 2018 TBA

OR help us plan one in your community...In discussion - Northern CA, Cincinnati, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Nashville, Texas, CalgaryEmail Sherokee to get on the mail list or help plan one for your community. Sherokeeilse@yahoo.com

You can Become CertifiedBaby Loss Family Advisor™ or Baby Loss Doula®or Take the training​for personal-professional growth

Join us for a 2-day in person training (plus 9 hours of video classes to watch from home) 42.75 CE contact hours! "This is the most comprehensive, compassionate, practical and empowering perinatal loss training out there*. A New Jersey Perinatal Loss RN who took the training

This Continuing Nursing education Activity is by the Maryland Nurses Associaion, an accredited aprover by the Aerican Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.

In our 10 Educational Modules, you will learn how to:

Provide 'gold standard' care,

Help prepare and support families, maximizing their control

Empower parents to temporarily put aside their debilitating fears and grief in order to be the 'present' parent to 'embrace the joy' and spend meaningful time with baby

Communicate in non-threatening and informative ways

Speak openly and honestly with families in crisis

Offer care using 5 Principles of Patient-centered care

Promote family understanding and communication

Work as a team mate while being the parents' advocate

And so much more

*Reported to us by numerous of our students in their evaluations and in person.​ Reviews"Sherokee, It was a prolific training filled with illuminating conversations, storytelling and suggestions. As a veteran in the field of infant death, your pearls of wisdom, support and accessibility are greatly appreciated. Your warm and giving spirit has touched the lives of many. Thank you for all that you do!" From Yolanda, a participant in our April 2015 class...

"I am a well-trained 25+ year OB nurse and perinatal loss coordinator. This was the best and most practical training I have ever attended!!!" P.A.

﻿﻿Scholarship Help﻿﻿

We have a goal to train and certify 50 parent advocates (Baby Loss Family Advisors/Baby Loss Doulas) in the next 2 years. Will you help us raise money to support those in need of funds in order to become trained to then advocate and care for those in need? The training and certification process is normally $450. For those who want to order the entire required reading/library set to share with families (Includes 14 books and 2 eZines), the package cost is $160. Since most Loss Advisors/Loss Doulas volunteer their services, making a donation to the scholarship fund allows them to keep their expenses low. Thank you for any amount you are able to give. Donations are not tax deductible. Help us raise $7000. We promise that 100% will be used for direct sholarships.

﻿PLEASE HELP US HELP OTHERS!!Do you want to help another who needs scholarship assistance? We offer partial scholarships to needy candidates. If you find it in your heart to help, you can donate here.We commit to use 100% of this money for scholarships. Please note, we are not a nonprofit, so donations are NOT tax deductible. Have a Heart Scholarship Campaign - Sherokee will design and sew a personalized 5" silky heart filled with rice infused with lavender oil to remember your baby. Minimum donations of $20 plus $8 shipping per heart.

​DONATE above.Send us an email with the details we will need to make your heart. sherokeeilse@yahoo.com

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Baby Loss Family Advisors™, also known as Baby Loss Doulas® and Bereavement Doulas™, is a sponsored Certification Program of Babies Remembered/Wintergreen Press. We are proud to provide this intensive certification program for parents and professionals who in turn offer support and guidance as independent professionals. Baby Loss Doulas®,are certified by Loss Doulas International, a division of Babies Remembered. A special thanks toLoss Doulas International, co-founder Dr. Pat Flynn and the Board of Advisors.www.BabiesRemembered.org

Helping to Maximize Memories, Minimize Regrets and Honor the Sacred Journey When a Baby Dies